NORTHVILLE — Part of the Rouge River – sealed inside a 1,200-foot concrete tunnel in 1962 to create land for fairgrounds and, later, a racetrack – has finally been uncovered, a project celebrated by some and criticized by others who don’t don’t approve of the way it was carried out.
Either way, the long-hidden waterway is open to the sky again, the centerpiece of a $350 million redevelopment reshaping Northville.
Daylighted in August, the river now winds through a 10-acre bioswale park with 1,400 newly-planted hardwood trees, native wetland plants, and a meandering channel designed to slow and filter stormwater before it flows downstream…